The Story of Amsicora: Heroism and Struggles in Ancient Sardinia

Our tale unfolds among peaceful yet commercially inclined people—the Phoenicians. They were the first to establish a significant commercial hub, ultimately giving rise to an entire city-state known as Cornus on the west coast of Sardinia.

As centuries passed, this city grew in significance and, after the Phoenician era, it was absorbed by the Carthaginians, who extended their dominion throughout the Mediterranean.

Carthage, ambitious and influential, absorbed all the Phoenician colonies and cities and found itself with only one rival in the Mediterranean: Rome. The Carthaginians, far from peaceful, fortified the city of Cornus extensively. They expanded the city across the Corchinas plateau, stretching from Santa Caterina di Pittinuri to Torre del Pozzo. These fortifications were likely built atop pre-existing Nuragic defenses. They improved the city with new roads, public buildings, and an expanded and strengthened port, which probably stretched from the bay of Torre del Pozzo to the bay of S'archittu.

Cornus, owing to its strategic location, became a meeting point between the mountain-dwelling peoples and those of the coasts and plains.

The mountain-dwelling peoples chose to move to the island's interior to avoid submitting to Carthaginian rule, finding refuge in the strongholds of Nuragic civilization. This mysterious civilization gradually declined around 500 BC but maintained strongholds in the mountains, continuing to resist until Roman times.

Much later, Titus Livius referred to them as "Sardinian pelliti," a term with derogatory connotations, implying that they wore skins.

On the other hand, the coastal and plain-dwelling peoples, though with difficulty, integrated into Punic-Carthaginian culture. They formed city-states, allied and governed by a Carthaginian oligarchy, of which Amsicora was a part.

Amsicora fits into this complex tapestry, and two main theories exist regarding his identity:

Amsicora could have been a half-blood—an affluent landowner with ties to the Carthaginian aristocracy and linked to the Iliensi ethnic group, one of the numerous Nuragic tribes that rebelled.

Alternatively, Amsicora might have been an official entrusted by Carthage to govern the territories of Cornus. Another "Sardinian Carthaginian" governor, Hanno, held a similar influential and affluent position in the nearby city of Tharros. Did the Sardinian hero and patriot eventually become a Carthaginian official, prioritizing his own interests?

The story recounts that Amsicora and Hanno joined forces in 215 BC to resist the Romans. Amsicora sought help from the Sardinian pellitti, leaving command to his son, Iosto. Tragically, Iosto lost his life in the Battle of Cornus against the seasoned Torquato Tasso. Near S'archittu, there is still a plaque in Sardinian that reads:

"To Amsicora and Hosto/ to the three thousand Sardinian patriots/ who/ for the independence of Sardinia/ the reflection of the sea in their eyes/ not to be slaves of Rome/ in these valleys of pain/ shed their blood/ Campu 'e Corra 215 B.C. – 199"

The final, decisive battle took place in southern Sardinia, possibly in Decimomannu, ending in a complete defeat. It is said that Amsicora took his own life due to the anguish of his son's death combined with the loss against the Romans.
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